In which no news is good news

Christmas went well. There were absolutely no hilarious mishaps to report.  It was indeed an unfortunate choice not to have a trash committee, that issue blossomed.

This was a special year with all of us together. Robby and Ollie were napping and, sadly, are not pictured.

I forgot my apple bread and left it in the freezer. Jerry brought 15 lb of mashed potatoes. And everybody had trouble with the 70 plus degree weather. Otherwise, it was a wonderful reunion. So good to spend three days together.

Also, very happy to see 2021 come to a close.

Committees are the secret to a successful Christmas

Merry Christmas!  I'm up at 5:00 waiting for the Cousin Crew to wake up.

Christmas Eve was a blast!

Maybe too much fun for a few.

The night started with a meeting of the Chair Committee.  Followed by a briefing from the Utensil Committee. The Food Committee took over and all went well.

We had our traditional lasagne dinner followed by the stocking stuffers exchange wherein the most coveted and traded gifts included a Chick Fil A card and an autographed photo of Eric Estrada that was clearly regifted.

The least traded gift was a dose of GasX which the original recipient was stuck with. Which was totally appropriate since it was dad.

The evening ended with hugs and kisses and me whispering to dad, "We have a situation brewing."

Yikes! We never formed a Trash Committee. 😧

Cousin David Update

Within hours of starting my blog up again, who magically appeared through the back door while we were eating lunch?

Cousin David.

He has aged a little since my blogging days, no? He and Lexi stopped by to show us their new car:

We kicked the tires and smelled the interior, oooh'd and ahhh'd, and talked for awhile.  It was so good to see them again and I think he has made it clear that he's ready for the blog to crank back up, too. 

Then the little woman called to see what was taking him so long.  (She might not be as eager for the return of the blog.)

Crossing the Catawba Again

So I crossed the Catawba again.  Back in my blogging days, when I crossed the Catawba, it meant I was going to see my nana. But now I would have to cross the Jordan in order to see my nana again. So when I cross the Catawba now, I'm either meeting Cousin David for wings or going to visit my mom and dad.

In this case, it was Mom and Dad.

As they approached their eighties, mom and Dad decided to sell the family home and downsize to a condominium. At which point, the grandchildren cried out for one last Christmas at Mimi and Papa's house. Mimi and Papa acquiesced, albeit with fear and trembling.

As Christmas drew near, they wondered more and more how they could possibly host 28 people for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Several under the age of 9 and rather mischievous, slightly brutal to home decor. 

So that's what led me to cross the Catawba three days before Christmas in the difficult year of 2021.

As I dusted the four bedroom home, climbed the rickety 1910 wooden ladder to fix the garage door opener and drizzled chocolate over 61 truffles (but who's counting?), I found myself longing for wings with Cousin David.

And thinking of Cousin David made me want to blog again because my faithful readers have always enjoyed following the life of Cousin David.

It was also a couple of faithful readers who suggested I might start blogging again. And with 28 family members in a four bedroom house for 2 days, what could provide better blogging material??

Drop a comment and tell me how you plan to celebrate christmas.